Supreme Court deals blow to Voting Rights Act along ideological lines

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Supreme Court strikes down Louisiana voting map

Supreme Court strikes down Louisiana voting map

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Hegseth in the hot seat; says Dems are U.S.’s ‘biggest adversary’

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A big blow to the Voting Rights Act:

The Supreme Court voided Louisiana’s new congressional map today that added a second majority-Black district.

The decision was 6-3 along ideological lines and has major implications for the future of the Voting Rights Act.

Why this is meaningful: “Louisiana’s legal saga thrust the state into the center of conservatives’ push to weaken a central provision of the 1965 law that has long enabled advocacy groups to force new majority-minority districts,” writes The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld and Caroline Vakil. The decision does not strike down the provision entirely, but it does weaken it.

The court’s conservative justices argue this ruling is limited and keeps the key components of the Voting Rights Act in place, but the liberal justices warn this decision has “completed demolition” the landmark civil rights law.

🔍 Read the Supreme Court ruling

Also, the court ruled for faith-based pregnancy centers:

“The Supreme Court unanimously sided with a group of faith-based pregnancy centers on Wednesday in their fight with New Jersey’s Democratic attorney general, who is investigating allegations the centers may have misled donors to believe they support abortions,” reports The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld.

Meaning: “Justice Neil Gorsuch said First Choice Women’s Resource Centers can proceed with its First Amendment challenge to the office’s subpoena in federal court. Lower judges ruled the centers hadn’t shown a chilling effect yet, so they needed to wait until New Jersey took more aggressive enforcement.” Read more

A little bit of Hegseth in the House. A little bit of Dan Caine by his side:

House Republican lawmakers finally have their chance to air their frustrations with how the Trump administration has handled the war in Iran today. House Armed Services Democrats grilled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine this morning as the war nears its 60th day with no clear end. But Republicans have largely held back from asking tough questions. 

The line getting the most traction: “The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the........

© The Hill